FIELD DAY
In 2020, Field Day’s Opposite Land EP raised the bar high for Doug Carrion and Peter Cortner’s modern take on a classic hardcore charge. Together, they pulled off the unlikely feat of reinventing the disaffected ethos of their brief but defining tenure with D.C. hardcore outfit Dag Nasty for 1987’s Wig Out At Denko’s and 1988’s Field Day LP.
With their latest offering, the four-song “Why?” 7-inch, the group wields an even sharper edge.
Field Day’s emergence was a postmodern reference to a reference — a triumph that dug deep into the past to find wholly new levels of fertile creative soil in which to grow. The short, sharp blasts they delivered with Opposite Land’s cuts “One Song,” “Stolen Words,” “Speak The Truth,” and “Waiting For A Miracle” laid the blueprint for a new, no-nonsense aesthetic, and proved there was more music and chemistry left to explore within vocalist Cortner and singer and bass player Carrion’s dynamic.
“Why?’s” opening salvo expands upon the speed and velocity of Field Day’s previous efforts, while coalescing around a searing guitar lead and the lyrics: “You’re living in a world built on fiction. What’s the reason? I wonder why you never realized. It’s up to you, but you keep living a lie. Did you ever stop to ask the question: How did you get so disconnected?”
This open-ended indictment underscores the crucial power of PMA to find balance amid an era in which technology has gone awry and social unrest percolates under the shadow of an oppressive virus. It could mean anything, or it could mean something very specific — it’s about what the listener brings to the music.
The increased focus on display between Cortner, Carrion, guitarist Shay Mehrdad, and drummer Kevin Avery simply and powerfully ignites the group’s melodic tension, and amplifies Field Day’s search for answers while placing the human experience under the microscope.
A hidden A-side track and the B-side cuts “Alive” and “Audience Of One” tighten the melodic songwriting made sharp by Mehrdad’s high-octane guitar shredding.
Across the board, the group has stepped up the intensity of every element in the music. And with production by Carrion and mixing courtesy of Cameron Webb (Pennywise, Motörhead, Ignite), these four songs are louder and strike with a greater sense of urgency.
Field Day revels in a real-time musical confrontation of emotions — a trait that’s extended since Cortner and Carrion’s days with Dag Nasty, and Carrion's formative years spent playing with the Descendents. Their veracity hits hard with “Audience Of One.” The song kicks off with a thunderous drum roll, signaling a heart-pounding finale. The fiery guitar tones, sprinting rhythm, and the lyrical query: “You always tell yourself what you want to believe, but when will you accept that you’re an audience of one?” brings the record’s prompt to a fine point: Look deep within yourself to find the power to rise above apathy.
Field Day has already proven their skills by releasing a handful of powerful and direct offerings. The four songs on the “Why?” 7-inch carry the pace to a higher level. Each number is bristling with rejuvenated and undeniably electric energy. It's one thing to create something new from a decades-old chapter in Dag Nasty’s discography. It's an entirely different thing to find new relevance, and outshine the past by creating vital new music. With “Why?,” Field Day revives classic punk and hardcore’s base emotions, while asking the hard questions, while keeping their gaze fixed on what lies ahead.
~ Chad Radford
lyrics
Hey, can we melt, melt before the ice sets in?
Dissolve, reveal the heart, it’s beating deep within
You can never touch the flame, if you’re running from the fire
I guess you’ll take your chances, and so will I
And so will I
We might be standing all alone, but we’re still alive
Despite the price we pay for love, or the pain we keep inside
It all comes down to how hard we try
How hard we try
Looks like the strongest steel can still go through fire
Sometimes you see dead horses stand up straight and run for miles
We’ve set our courses and now we’ve made our choices,
You question our intentions - I'll tell you why
We might be standing all alone, but we’re still alive
Despite the price we pay for love, or the pain we keep inside
It all comes down to how hard we try
How hard we try
credits
from WHY?,
track released February 4, 2022
Produced by Doug Carrion
Mixed By Cameron Webb ( Pennywise, Ignite, Motorhead )
Peter Cortner Vocals
Doug Carrion - Bass / Vocals
Shay Merhdad - Guitar
Kevin Avery - Drums
All Songs : Cortner / Carrion
Tate n Willie Music (BMI) / Sense of Place Music (BMI)
Recorded 2021
Pawnshop Studio - Van Nuys, CA
New Sofa Studios - Philadelphia, PA
Whenever you’re creating something new chances are there will always be a bit of skepticism, especially when it comes to
music fans, but sometimes that skepticism or fear can be embraced allowing for a brand new chapter of unforeseen possibilities. Welcome to the wonderful reality of FIELD DAY, who are making enormous strides and paving a unique musical path in 2021....more
This band. Hands down my favorite Discord band. They’ve had a powerful affect on my musical growth when I was young. And they’ve stayed there locked up in good nostalgia. Timeless. So I was worried to know they were doing anything new. PLEASE NO! I though to myself. Don’t let the new stuff suck and poison it! Well… Let’s say I’m thankful. A new chapter is born. Solid. guy_lane
hardcore punk, jazz, alien themes, kind of all my jams wrapped into a tight package. Intense, freaky, lean runtime but feels dense especially being sectioned into essentially 4 parts. Easily one of the best punk records of the decade so far. Also that drumming...holy shit alienasu
A fantastic album. I can see why they didn't continue under the name The Evens, as it's a different sound with the bass added. Coriky is the Evens + Joe Lally from Fugazi on bass. If you can imagine The Evens with a slightly more funky, aggressive sound like Fugazi... that's what you get! And there's no way that can ever go wrong. What a great debut album!! smiledozer